Eduardo Quaresma

Eduardo Filipe Quaresma Coimbra Simões (born 2 March 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP.

Early career
Born in Barreiro, Setúbal District, Quaresma joined the youth academy of Fabril at the age of 3 before moving to Sporting CP in 2011. In May 2020, the club rejected a bid of €5 million and Diego Laxalt from AC Milan in exchange for his signature. Inter Milan and RB Leipzig were also interested in him, but he agreed to a new contract to tie him to Sporting until 2025, with a €45 million buyout clause and annual salary of €250,000.

Quaresma made his professional debut in a 2–2 Primeira Liga away draw against Vitória de Guimarães on 4 June 2020, playing the full game. In the following season, he contributed two appearances (three overall) as his team won the national championship for the first time in 19 years.

2021–2023: Loans to Tondela and Hoffenheim
On 23 July 2021, Quaresma was loaned to Tondela for one year without a buying option. He scored his first goal in the Portuguese top flight on 7 January 2022, a late consolation in the 1–3 home loss to Benfica. He played 30 games as they suffered relegation; one of those was on 22 May when he featured the entire final of the Taça de Portugal, lost 3–1 to Porto.

On 4 August 2022, Quaresma joined Hoffenheim on a season-long loan, with an option to make the move permanent afterwards. He totalled only four matches during his spell in Germany, and the club did not activate the clause.

2023–2024: Return from loan
Quaresma returned to the Estádio José Alvalade in summer 2023. Having begun the campaign on the bench, he benefitted from injuries to teammates and the absence of Ousmane Diomande, who was competing in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and was given a start against rivals Porto on 18 December; he impressed in the game, and also created a play that led to a goal by Viktor Gyökeres that was disallowed, in a 2–0 win to overtake Benfica at the top of the table. Afterwards, he began appearing regularly as a starter, and scored his first competitive goal for Sporting on 11 February 2024 in a 5–0 home victory over Braga.

Quaresma made his continental debut on 15 February 2024, featuring the entire 3–1 away defeat of Young Boys in the knockout phase of the UEFA Europa League.

International career
Quaresma represented Portugal at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels, totalling 36 caps. He made his debut for the under-21s on 6 September 2021, in a 1–0 win over Belarus in the 2023 UEFA European Championship qualifiers held in Amadora.

Style of play
Quaresma was predominantly deployed as a central defender, but could also play as a right-back; a natural leader thanks to his passing ability, vision and football IQ, he was equally adept at defensive midfielder. Technically gifted with strong tackling, intercepting and anticipation skills, he also liked to dribble and play short passes taking advantage of his pace to create attacking opportunities for his team.

Personal life
Quaresma is a distant relative of Brazilian international Zico.

In 2022, he began a relationship with Filipa Gonçalves, an Instagrammer.

Honours
Sporting CP
 * Primeira Liga: 2020–21, 2023–24
 * Taça da Liga: 2020–21